67’s Keep on Rolling

By Jake Dole

October 13th, 2001

Pre-Game Notes

The shorthanded 67’s were in tough Friday night with a match against the 6-2-0-1 Peterborough Petes. Out for 2 games was the captain Zenon Konopka, suspended for instigating in a scuffle in last Sunday’s game with the Barrie Colts’ Tyler Hanchuck. In addition, rookie center Corey Locke suffered a separated left shoulder in the same game; he is expected to be out of action for 2 to 3 weeks.

To shore up the lineup, the 67’s acquired a 16-year old Left Wing Jeremy Akeson from the London Knights. He had been playing with the Nepean Raiders of the CJHL (Central Junior Hockey League). There he played in 9 games and collected 3 goals, 6 points with a team-high 54 penalty minutes. Akeson made his OHL debut in last night’s game.

Juroslav Sklenar is going back to his native Czech Republic because of home sickness. The Left Winger has cleared waivers, which permits him to return.

Hall-of-famer Jean Beliveau was in attendance in last night’s game, dropping the puck for the ceremonial faceoff. The former member of the Montreal Canadiens was greeted with a standing ovation and a series of clips on the Civic Center’s brand new replay screen.

The 67s will host the first game of the 3-part Hershey Cup Series on Januray 16, 2001. The OHL’s Eastern Conference All-Stars will meet the Quebec Hockey League’s Eastern Conference All-Stars. The game will take place at 7:00 p.m. Eatern time. The other two games will be played in Red Deer, Saskatchewan and at the Colisee de Rimouski.

The 67’s extended their unbeaten streak to four games defeating the Barrie Colts 3 to 0 last Sunday, as J.F. Perras turned in a 42-save performance. Peterborough was coming off a 5-4 come from behind win over the Oshawa Generals on Thursday. Coming off a hard-fought match, the Petes might have been on their last legs, as they couldn’t maintain their hard-checking style for the full stretch of 60 minutes last night.

1st Period

The game started off as expected, as the Petes thrived trapping the 67’s offense by forechecking efficiently. The 67’s were in danger of falling behind by 2 goals, several times in the period, but some timely saves by J.F. Perras kept the sloppy Ottawa squad in the game.

The Petes took the lead at 12:17 of the first period, as Matt Herneisen got hold of a loose puck in front of the 67’s net, unleashing a backhand by the screened Perras.

Peterborough played a tight-checking style, limiting Ottawa to just 6 shots in the period. The 67’s looked disinterested and were unable to generate any kind of momentum.

2nd Period

The Petes kept building up the momentum at the start of the second period. They took a 2-goal lead as Lukas Krajicek picked up the loose puck, unloading a backhand by the helpless J.F. Perras.

However several minutes later, the 67’s stopped the bleeding, as Rodney Bauman redirected a Russ Moyer point blast to make it 2-1 Peterborough.

With the goal, Ottawa re-energized their offense, moving the puck more efficiently towards the Petes’ end. On the powerplay, with Ryan Card in the box for high sticking, Miguel Delisle redirected another point blast by the red-hot Russ Moyer to tie up the game. With two assists on the night, Moyer extended his point and assist streak to 4 games.

The 67’s didn’t stop there, pounding David Currie with shots. While on the powerplay, Miguel Delisle nearly made it 3-2 (one of about 8 solid scoring chances for the sniper on the night), but David Currie made a sprawling save with a blocker.

Caught somewhat off-guard by Ottawa’s resurgence, the Petes became frustrated which resulted in several unnecessary penalties. With Dustin Wood in the penalty box for holding, the 67’s took the lead for good, as Brian Rodney showcased some hard work in front of the net, redirecting a Rodney Bauman shot into the net.

Miguel Delisle showed little fear, as with two minutes to go in the period, he broke with blazing speed on David Currie, managing to stuff the puck into the net for a 2-goal lead, knocking the Peterborough goalie off his feet.

The 67’s collected 18 shots in the second period, comparing to only 6 in the first, looking like a completely different team than in the previous 20 minutes.

3rd Period

The newcomer Jeremy Akeson scored Ottawa’s 5th goal of the game, which wound up to be the game winner. Stickhandling hard with the opposition’s forwards on his back, Akeson unleashed a wrist shot that eluded Curry.

Several minutes later, the 67’s scored their 6th straight goal of the game, as Miguel Delisle completed the hat trick, stickhandling through defenders and beating David Currie with a backhand to the top-right corner.

Ottawa looked (in the words of Brian Kilrea) relaxed in the final 10 minutes of the third period. Sloppy passing at 16:37 of the period resulted in a short-handed break for Brad Self, who made it 6-3.

Kurtis Foster then scored a power play goal to place the Petes within 2 goals at 6-4. However the 67’s held on for the win, largely due to another major goal surge – a trend for Ottawa in the past several home games.

3rd Star: Russ Moyer – Extends points (assist) streak to four. Assisted on the first two Ottawa goals; both times his point shot was redirected, first by Bauman and then by Delisle.2001/2002 Stats: 7Gp 2G 6A 8PTS

1st Star: Miguel Delisle – Went hard to the net all night and that payed dividends. 3 goals in the game. Also wore the C (as alternate captain) with Zenon Konopka suspended for 2 games.2001/2002 Stats: 7Gp 8G 8A 16PTS

Honourable Mentions:

Rodney Bauman – Had a goal and an assist; was physical and blocked several Petes’ shots as well.

J.F. Perras – His stats on the night are somewhat deceiving. Made several excellent saves in the first period and in the beginning of the second to kept the 67’s in the game.

Kurtis Foster – The Flames’ 40th overall pick in the 2000 NHL draft played solid defense for the Petes and scored one of the team’s 4 goals.

Locker Room:

“It’s like there were two separate (67) teams out there. In the first, our defense was standing around and (Peterborough) had (scoring) chances in front of the net, with no defense in sight. Luckily Perras made the saves at the right time. And with the absence of you-know-who, Delisle really stepped up and took the responsibility of leading by example.When we were up 6-2, it looked like we played well and were moving the puck out, but all of a sudden we gave them a gift, a shorthanded goal and a powerplay goal at the end of it. It looked like we had the game won and easily at hand, but then at the stretch of the final ten minutes of the third period it was a relaxation period.We did a good job of going to the net and getting tip goals and creating havoc. We skated extremely well in the second period and that was the deciding period.(Sklenar) will be going home, probably on Monday, as soon as we can make arrangements. He’s homesick and he has a girlfriend back home. So we decided for him to go home. He cleared waivers today, so the rules are if you want to go home, you can go home.(Akeson) played pretty well out there, he did simple things, worked hard and went to the net and was rewarded with a goal.” (67’s GM and Head Coach Brian Kilrea)

“It feels pretty good (to join the 67’s) and playing in front of the home crowd it was a great experience. (The OHL) is much faster there is more defensive responsibility and backchecking.” (Jeremy Akeson, the new 67’en)

“(Jean Beliveau when he came up to say a few words to Delisle) said that I have to remember that it’s a team game and that playing as a team is the key to winning.I crashed the net tonight and even hurt my ankle, but that is what I have to do: go hard to the net. I definitely felt a lot more responsibility (by wearing the C)…I was joking with Konopka before the game and said that this is my C and you’re not getting it back! But I wasn’t the only guy to step up tonight; a lot of guys did and that is why we won.” (Game’s #1 Star Miguel Delisle)

The 67’s next game is on Tuesday, the 16th, versus the Kingston Frontenacs. The team returns to Ottawa next Friday to face the Sarnia Sting at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.